2-WWII Greece OT

1. What were the circumstances in the Occupied Territory that compelled the policies implemented by the occupying there? How was policy shaped to address these circumstances? - Derek

Background:

• Mussolini, in an effort to prove his leadership and feelings a bit outplayed by Hitler, decides to occupy and attack Greece. He believed that it would be an easy target and sent a torpedo that crushed Greek cruiser Elli in the harbor of Tinos, resulting in a large loss in life. Then on October 28th the Italian minister in Athens brings the written ultimatum which demanded that the Greeks let the Italian army enter and occupy the country or deal with an Italian invasion. Ioannis Metaxas, who had hoped to remain neutral in the war, rejects the ultimatum and in just a few hours Italian troops invaded Greece from Albania. The people of Greece answer the call to defend the country and in just 6 weeks drive the Italian army back into the cold mountains of Albania.
• Italy was placed under much distress and required the assistance of Germany to maintain and dignity.
• Hitler in the mean time was busing building his forces to invade Russia and did not want to be concerned by other problems. However a loss such as this for the Axis powers could not go unanswered, nor could he leave the southern flank exposed. Metaxas knows that the Greek army is no match when compared to the German’s and tried to avert an invasion, hoping that Hitler would negotiate a truce on the Albanian Front between Greece and Italy. However, two months after the death of Metaxas, on the 6th of April the German Army invaded Greece. The Greeks and the British forces are no match for the advancing Germans but manage to hold them long enough for the government of King George II, the Greek Army and the British Expeditionary Force to be successfully evacuated to Crete where they help the local population to heroically hold off the Nazi invasion of the island until the end of May.

Triple Occupation:

• Bulgaria, Italy, and Germany occupied Greece.

Bulgaria Policies:

• Bulgarian policy included extermination or expulsion. The main goal was to “Bulgarize” as many Greeks as possible and expel or kill the rest. A massive campaign was launched right from the start, and all Greek officials such as: mayors, judges, lawyers and gendarmes were deported. The Bulgarians shut down Greek schools and expelled the teachers, replaced Greek clergymen with priests from Bulgaria, and extensively repressed the use of the Greek language.
• Many Greeks were expelled from the country and others were deprived of a work due to a license system that banned the practice of a trade or profession without permission. Force labor was introduced and business property was confiscated from the Greeks.
• Bulgaria later annexed their territory.

Italian Policies:

• Compared to the other two occupation zones, the Italian’s Regime’s hold on Greece was relatively mild. However, mass reprisals did occur, such as the Domenikon massacre in which 150 Greek civilians were killed. As they controlled most of the countryside, the Italians were the first to face the rising resistance movement in 1942-43, but they were not powerful enough to contain it. By mid-1943, the Resistance had managed to expel the Italian garrisons from some mountainous areas, including several towns, creating liberated zones and cities. After the Italian armistice in September 1943, the Italian zone was taken over by the Germans.

German Policies:

• In order to support the occupation the Germans plundered the country and ordered the Greeks to pay the costs. The economy of the country was already at a low point due to the relentless economic exploitation by the Nazi Regime. Raw materials and food were requisitioned, and the collaborationist government was forced to pay the cost of the occupation, giving rise to inflation. Furthermore the Germans issued a war which Greece was forced to grant to the German Reich. This "" was never paid back and severely devalued the drachma. Requisitions, the Allied blockade of Greece, the country's infrastructure in ruins, and the emergence of a powerful and well-connected black market, resulted in the Great Famine during the winter of 1941-42 when an estimated 300,000 died.
• By mid 1943 when the Italians had surrendered and disarmed, the Germans took control over all of Greece. (By this point the Bulgarians annexed their territory. The Andartes (resistance group of Greece) pushed all their efforts against the Germans. Since the resistance group does not have a set uniform, the Nazi’s begin to see the villagers as conspirators, harboring the resistance and giving them information on German troop movement. But the Greek terrain favors the guerillas and the Nazis are forced to come up with other methods, including death squads who combat the resistance by killing civilians suspected of being with the andartes or even just sympathizing.

2. What were the effects of the occupation of your territory on the occupying power's war effort? This should include basic data such as numbers of troops diverted to the occupation and so forth, but should also take into account less logistical factors such as the psychological effect of occupation on the occupying , issues of morale, attitudes of occupation forces toward the local population (and vice versa) and the degree to which that sharpened or dulled the occupiers' resolve, etc.


Civil War during Occupation

• There was a civil war in Greece at the time of occupation between the Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos (ELAS the military arm of the communist-dominated National Liberation Front), and the Ethnikos Dimokratikos Ellinikos Syndesmos (EDES the military arm of the non-communist dominated National Liberation Front.)

Effect of the Occupation on the Nazi Regime

• Hitler was temporarily diverted from building his army for the Russian invasion (Operation Barbarossa) in order to settle the Italian invasion in Greece.
• The German Army founded Battalions in 1943 by the Greek puppet government of Ioannis Rallis. They were supported by the extreme right and Nazi sympathizers, but also by some centrist politicians who were concerned about the dominance of the ELAS (Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos, the military arm of the communist-dominated National Liberation Front). Among the members of the Battalions one could find ex-army officers, forcefully conscripted soldiers, conservatives, landowners, extreme-right radicals and social outcasts, as well as opportunists who believed the Axis would win the war.
• The German’s struggled to maintain hold of the country with effective resistance measures from the Andarte mentioned later.
• The Greek Resistance dulled the occupying power’s resolve because they were met by constant conflict.

3. What were the motivations/methods/outcomes of resistance and collaboration? How did this
affect the Occupied Territory after the war? Use case studies to illustrate.

Resistance

• Peter D. Chimbos, author of the Canadian Odyssey and other history books, published in the International Journal of Comparative Sociology detailed accounts of the resistance and collaboration of the Greek population.
  • Resistance Factions Included
    • EAM (National Liberation Front)
      • EPON and PEAN (Panhellenic Organization of Youth)
      • EDES (Ethnikos Dimokratikos Ellinikos Syndesmos)
      • ELAS (Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos)
      • ELAN (Elliniko Laiko Apeleftherotiko Naftiko)
      • EKKA (National and Social Liberation)
      • SOE (Britains Special Operative Executive)
• The Nazi’s reprisals, destruction to the economy, and brutality was more than enough to warrant resistance.
• The Greek’s resistance was one of the most successful in all of the occupied territories.
• By mid-1943, the Resistance had managed to expel the Italian garrisons from some mountainous areas, including several towns, creating liberated zones and cities.
• “In June 1942 Aris Velouchiotis accomplished his first attack against Nazi units and on November 26 ELAS and EDES forces, along with British commandos, blew up the Bridge of Gorgopotamos River, which carried the Thessaloniki-Athens railway line. This attack interrupted the movement of military supplies for General Rommel's German army in Africa through Greece for several weeks, delayed the flow of war material out of Greece to other parts of Europe, and boosted the morale of Greek Resistance organizations and allied forces (Chimbos 251).”
• The resistance movements escalated rapidly during early 1943 and showcased its strength not only by military operations but through organized labor strikes.

Collaboration

• The extended growth and strength of the resistance created much and frustration among the leaders of the occupying Axis armies and the collaborative government of Greece who immediately tried to suppress it. In APril 1943, the Nazis appointed Ioannis Rallis, an ex-deputy minister of John Metaxas dictatorial government, as a prime minister to suppress the Greek Resistance. Rallis and the Nazis created the Greek Battalions to counter resistance measures. They were supported by the extreme right and Nazi sympathizers as well as people who thought the Axis would win the war.

After the War

• The Nazi’s retreated as Soviet forces advancing into South-Eastern Europe from the Ukraine threatened to cut them off.
• The Battalions were convicted of treason and were disbanded.
• The economy was left in ruins and .
• Hundreds of thousands Greeks dead.

4. What were the effects of occupation on women & youth in the Occupied Territory? Use case
studies to illustrate.

• Women played an important role in the Resistance movement according to Chimbos. They were participants of combat, medical aid, espionage, supplies and ammunition. By September 1944 nearly ⅓ of all Greek women had become part of the resistance in some kind of way. The Resistance Movement had a particular appeal to women to whom it held out the prospect of emancipation in a society influenced by patriarchal values and tradition. According to Jane Hart women of the Greek Resistance movement committed acts of sabotage that were punishable by death or imprisonment. More importantly, Greek women helped and stood by their combatant husbands, brothers, and sons in the resistance. Many of them took care of the sick and injured, fed the hungry and buried the dead who gave their lives for Greece’s freedom
• As for the children, Chimbos describes that the EAM, or the National Liberation Front, included the formation of auxiliary organizations such as EPON (Panhellenic Organization of Youth) whose many young members served in the armed Resistance.
• EAM had recruited whole villages to the resistance which included men, women, and children.

Youtube Links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-wuc0JaHQI - Nazi Occupation of Greece
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE-PdQ6_Y6c - Ioannis Rallis





Pictures from:
http://www.ahistoryofgreece.com/worldwarII.htm

Barretts, Mattew. "History of GreeceGreece in the 2nd World War." Greece in the Second World War. Matt Barrett's Guides, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. <http://www.ahistoryofgreece.com/worldwarII.htm>.


Chimbos, Peter D. "Greek Resistance 1941-45: Organization, Achievements and Contributions to Allied War Efforts against the Axis Powers." International Journal of Comparative Sociology 40.2 (1999): 251. Questia School. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.


Hart, Janet. 1990 "Women in Greek Society" in Marion Sarafis and Martin Eve (ed.) Background to Contemporary Greece. London: Merlin Press.